"Does Shinobu know about this?" Hiroki asked skeptically, furrowing his brows.
"No," Miyagi replied, looking down at his shoulder to watched the progress of the man who was wiping his skin with rubbing alcohol. "It's his birthday present. It's on the twelfth, but I couldn't get an appointment for a day any later than this."
They were sitting in a private room of a tattoo parlor with a Swedish man with tattoos all up his arms. Nearby on the wall was a master's certificate, much to Hiroki's relief. At least the place was sanitary.
"Mm," Hiroki hummed, pursing his lips. "Are you sure that he'll like it?"
Miyagi opened his mouth to speak, but the tattoo artist looked up and asked a question in Swedish. Miyagi answered, picking up a paper with a Japanese symbol on it and flipping it over so it was right-side up. The tattoo artist nodded and went back to work, picking up a disposable razor to shave off a small patch of hair on Miyagi's shoulder.
"Anyway," Miyagi said, turning back to Hiroki. "Yes. I know he'll love it. Kamijou, Shinobu is very… afraid of child birth. He's so afraid of complications that he's been obsessively researching methods of preventing them nonstop, day and night. And he…"
Miyagi trailed off and went quiet for a few moments.
"And he still cries himself to sleep sometimes. It's been getting better since it happened, but sometimes… yeah. It hurts to listen to, and it hurts to not be able to comfort him just by holding him."
"And getting a tattoo will help this… how?"
"Look at it."
Hiroki pursed his lips and leaned forward to peer down at the paper on the tattoo artist's table. It was a Japanese character: 忍. Hiroki tilted his head in confusion. It looked like… 'endure'.
But then, he noticed one small line on the Japanese character that made it a name and not an abstract word: Shinobu.
"Oh…" Hiroki breathed.
"Yeah," Miyagi murmured.
"If that's not lifelong devotion, then I don't know what is," Hiroki commented.
"Mhm. And I'm getting another on the right side of my back that says 'Eiji'. I'm leaving the left side open to get a tattoo of the name of the next baby."
Miyagi picked up another sheet of paper from the table and showed it to Hiroki: 永次, or Eiji.
"They say that tattoos are addicting… are you sure you want to do this? I mean, these stay with you forever."
"Kamijou, I've already considered that. I've been planning these tattoos and perfecting the stencil since the stillborn, so I think I know what I'm doing. Besides, I'm not interested in getting any other tattoos."
"So… what about… Yuji? Will his name be added?" Hiroki asked after a short pause. Miyagi sighed.
"…No," he replied slowly. "Yuji will forever and always be right here."
Miyagi reached up and tapped his chest over his heart.
"I don't want Shinobu to be reminded of the misery of the past whenever he sees me. Instead, I want him to see all of the things he has in his life that make up for our loss. And… his name permanently drawn onto my arm will show him that I'm always going to be here, no matter what happens. I will ensure that he never faces a tragedy by himself."
"He'll love it," Hiroki whispered, his heart clenching as Miyagi's words touched him.
"Yes," Miyagi said softly. He looked over as the tattoo artist asked him if he was ready in Swedish. Miyagi nodded. There was a whirring sound as the artist began. Miyagi winced a little, but didn't make a sound. He grinned at Hiroki. "Another reason that I'm getting these done is because Shinobu loves the rugged look. Sometimes, when we role-play in bed, he-"
"Miyagi!" Hiroki hiss-barked. Miyagi laughed, careful not to move his arm too much.
"Oh, yeah. You don't like this sort of stuff."
"Jeez, do you and Shinobu just stay in bed all day? You've got a sex story for almost every situation!"
"Not all day. But we do have sex a lot more than you think."
Hiroki rolled his eyes.
"What that boy sees in perverted old man sex, I'll never know."
"Actually, I don't think he enjoys it any more than you enjoy sex with Nowaki," Miyagi said after a moment's thought. Hiroki's eyebrows raised.
"That doesn't make sense. Whenever we go shopping, I always have to tell him to stop talking about his adventures in bed."
Miyagi smirked.
"Oh really…? I'll have to talk to him about that. But seriously, I think Shinobu is just as sexually active as any other man, no more, no less. I think he has sex with me sometimes just to get his mind off of the stillbirth."
"Shinobu wouldn't do that…" Hiroki scoffed. Miyagi shook his head.
"Yes, he would. After all this time, he still bluffs to try and prove himself as an adult. And what better way to prove himself than to have sex to patch over pain instead of talking about it? That's his logic, Kamijou. I hate it, but it's just his personality and I've learned to accept it as such. So yeah... I can always tell when he wants sex just to forget for a while. He gets this distant look in his eyes when he walks up to me. When he kisses me, he's listless. But as soon as the clothes come off he turns into a sex kitten. Which I have no problem with, of course… but still. I know he's hurting, and it's frustrating me that I'm being used as a stress relief."
"He's not using you as a stress relief," Hiroki said immediately, furrowing his eyebrows. "What he needs is for you to take this situation into your own hands. He's going to kick and scream and bitch about it, but you've gotta set things right."
"That's what these tattoos are for," Miyagi said, gesturing to the tattoo artist's table with his free arm. "I'm his fiancé, his lover, and his best friend, damn it. He can talk to me about anything."
Hiroki smiled gently.
"Shinobu will fall in love with you all over again if this works."
"Hi. We're with the Takatsuki party," Miyagi said to the hostess in Swedish, craning his neck to see around the restaurant. They were in a Swedish version of an Olive Garden, where vines hung from the rafters of the ceiling and the smell of pasta wafted in from the kitchen. It was significantly busy, and waiters and waitresses were bustling all around with dirty dishes and trays of all sorts of Italian food.
"It smells amazing in here," Hiroki said as they followed the hostess through the restaurant. Hiroki licked his lips hungrily as he looked at a table where two men were sitting, a blonde with slicked-back hair and a brunette with a single curl sticking out of the side of his head. The blonde was simply watching his companion with a little grin on his face as the brunette wolfed down a plate of delicious-looking pasta like a wild animal.
"Is the smell bringing you back to your pregnancy days and your cravings?" Miyagi asked as they passed the table, glancing over his shoulder.
"Hell yeah. Is Shinobu craving pasta, too?"
"Garlic bread," Miyagi answered with a sigh. "I told him that I could probably just make him some, but nooo, it had to be 'authentic and edible'. 'Authentic' my asshole, this place is- oh, hey! Hej!"
Hiroki peeked out from behind Miyagi's shoulder as they approached a table set up in the back, the booth surrounding the table large and up against the corner of the room. Alrik and his wife, Katina was sitting in the middle, with Shinobu and a space for Miyagi on the left. Eiji sat on the end with a high chair. To Alrik and Katina's right was Nowaki and a space for Hiroki, with Fuyumi sitting in her own high chair on the other end.
"Kamijou, Miyagi! Hej!" Katina called, smiling a big, sparkling smile as she waved. Hiroki smiled and waved back.
Katina was a lovely woman, with flowing, beautiful chocolate brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was pleasantly plump, mostly because she was heavily pregnant with Alrik's first child. Despite the round globe of her belly, her body was elegant and emanated limitless kindness- one that would turn any gay man straight.
Except, of course, Nowaki. He had been looking quite bored, quietly playing with Fuyumi by poking her sides and making her bat at her daddy's hand in protest. When he saw Hiroki, however, he immediately straightened and grinned at him.
"Hiro-san! They've been speaking Swedish and I can't understand a single word!" Nowaki cried, reaching out for Hiroki. Hiroki rolled his eyes and sat down beside Nowaki, elbowing him to give him more space. Miyagi went around to the other side of the table and slid in beside Shinobu, immediately slipping an arm around his waist and earning a contented hum of approval through a mouthful of garlic bread.
"Oh, sorry, Kusama," Alrik said, turning to Nowaki with an apologetic look on his face. "Katina is still working on her Japanese."
"Oh, no," Nowaki said, leaning back in his seat and raising his hands in a humble manner. "It's not a problem at all! I was just feeling a little intimidated, the language here is very different from Japanese! And you can call me Nowaki, I don't mind."
Alrik smiled and turned to Katina, reciting the conversation he had had with Nowaki in Swedish.
"Looks like you guys are getting along just fine, hm?" Hiroki asked, resting his elbows on the table and glancing at Nowaki.
"Yes. He's very kind, and his Japanese is amazing!"
"He caught onto it really fast," Hiroki said, grinning.
"Kamijou," asked a female voice. Hiroki looked up at Katina, who was smiling kindly at him.
"You 'ave… wedding soon, ja? You know where… you… 'ave eet?" Katina asked in very broken Japanese. Hiroki could understand it, however, and he grinned back at his friend.
"We're not sure yet," Hiroki answered. Katina nodded. Under the table, Hiroki discreetly put a hand on Nowaki's thigh and squeezed- they would speak about it later. Nowaki put his hand over Hiroki's and squeezed back- his affirmation.
"So what were you and Kamijou doing before you guys came here?" Shinobu asked between pieces of garlic bread, glancing innocently between Hiroki and Miyagi.
"Something special," Miyagi purred. He playfully bumped into Shinobu. "Your birthday present."
Shinobu perked up.
"A birthday present? I hope it's a wedding invite to Nowaki and Kamijou's wedding. Eh? Eh?" Shinobu asked, bouncing in his seat and wiggling his eyebrows. Hiroki grinned.
"Isn't that a given, Shinobu? Of course you're coming. You're all coming," Hiroki said, gesturing to everyone around the table. He turned to Nowaki. "And we'll fly Akihiko and Misaki out here, too."
"I'm okay with whatever you're okay with," Nowaki said, lifting his hands in surrender. The entire table laughed.
"So, I must know," Katina said, gesturing to Hiroki and Nowaki. "'Ow will wedding go? You 'ave best man or maid of honor? No best man?"
"Huh," Nowaki said, furrowing his brows. He glanced at Hiroki. "I didn't think of that. Did you?"
"A little bit…" Hiroki trailed off. "But not enough to decide on anything."
"How about you just bend the rules a little?" Miyagi suggested. "I mean, not all weddings have to be completely traditional, right? Just decide for yourselves what you want to do, don't let tradition lead your wedding."
"That's a good idea," Hiroki mused.
"We could have a man of honor instead of a maid of honor, maybe."
"I have an idea!" Alrik suddenly announced. "How about Nowaki take Miyagi and Akihiko as best men, then Hiroki take Shinobu and Misaki as men of honor!"
"I do owe Akihiko a lot for letting me stay in his house," Nowaki said. He glanced up at Miyagi. "And you, Miyagi and Shinobu, have taken such good care of Hiro-san and Fuyumi. I'd be honored to have you as one of my best men, Miyagi."
Miyagi blinked, taken aback. Shinobu grinned widely and took Miyagi's hand off of the table to squeeze it.
"Ah… thanks, Nowaki. That really means a lot to me," Miyagi said quietly.
"I really like the idea of having Misaki and Shinobu as my men of honor. Misaki helped me out so much with Fuyumi when she was a newborn… and Shinobu, you were my top choice for a man of honor, anyway, so not much change there."
Shinobu beamed as Nowaki spoke up, clapping his hands together.
"Then it's decided. I'll have Miyagi and Akihiko for my best men, and Hiro-san will have Shinobu and Misaki as his men of honor. Now if we could only think up of a magical solution as to where we're going to go for our honeymoon!"
Hiroki blinked.
"Honeymoon?"
